Though professional navel piercing is relatively inexpensive, many people prefer the convenience of piercing at home. When piercing your own navel, it is important to have the proper equipment. Simply pushing a pin through your skin will not result in a proper piercing and may lead to infection or rejection of the jewelry. A navel piercing is not terribly painful for most individuals, but you should be prepared with a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory to ease any discomfort you feel after performing your piercing.

Wear a pair of gloves to help prevent contaminating your piercing with dirt or bacteria. If you do not have gloves, wash your hands twice thoroughly with hot water and soap.

Disinfect your tools with rubbing alcohol. You can use a shallow bowl or cup filled with alcohol to submerge your equipment, including the piercing needle and jewelry, or rub an alcohol-soaked cotton ball over the tools.

Select the location for your piercing. A navel piercing is typically above the navel, but the distance from your navel depends on your preferences. Look at yourself in a mirror and hold the jewelry in various places until you decide how you want your navel piercing to look. You may find it helpful to mark the chosen spot with ink.

Douse a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and disinfect the entire area around your navel. Repeat this process a few times, using a clean cotton ball each time. Cover a large area, making sure to disinfect the site of the piercing and your navel thoroughly.

Wrap an ice cube with a paper towel, and hold the ice to your navel for one to two minutes. This will numb the area and reduce the pain and swelling caused by the piercing needle.

Push the piercing needle slowly through your navel. Make sure that you continue to breathe during the piercing process. Not all individuals experience bleeding during a navel piercing, but be prepared to see a few drops of blood.

Remove the needle, and immediately insert the navel ring into the hole. Your skin will begin to close right after you remove the piercing needle, so the pain of putting the ring into the piercing will be minimized the faster you insert it.